Clarity in Composition

By Dan Hobgood

"If [a score's] music has no form, no foundation -- no basis from where it came -- then why is it there in the first place?"
-Composer Jerry Goldsmith

Introduction

Having enjoyed Paul Verhoeven's most recent film, Hollow Man, I was eager to purchase the special edition presentation of the film on DVD when it became available for purchase at the beginning of January 2001. Though most industry critics dismissed the picture, the production was, in my estimation, one of the best to premiere last year. Elizabeth Shue's disappointing performance aside, the picture had many elements of interest -- ranging from the director's social commentary to Kevin Bacon's strong showing, and from the special effects wizardry to Jerry Goldsmith's musical score (judged now by many critics as last year's best, and rightfully so). I had been anticipating the commercial release of the film because the videodisc was purported to include, among other special features, an audio track isolating the Goldsmith score. Furthermore, the composer had discussed his music in a commentary slated to be intersticed among the various cues throughout the picture. The commercial release of Hollow Man would mark the first time that Goldsmith enthusiasts could hear the composer offer such insight since the advent of technology making it possible.

Despite this fact, though...and that I had indeed been very excited to hear what the composer had to say, it was not until several weeks after I bought the DVD that I finally listened to it. Mostly as a result of reading fellow aficionados' reactions to the commentary before I could enjoy it myself, I had lost a lot of interest (or at least had lost the sense of urgency I had while waiting for its release). From what others had said or written, I did not envision that Goldsmith had discussed that which I had hoped he would, and, therefore, my expectations were limited by the time that I decided to give it a chance.

Fortunately, I found that I had had no reason to be concerned. After hearing the commentary, I could barely believe I had so inaccurately assumed it would be a waste of time. Within the first several minutes alone, Goldsmith had discussed the details of film music that are probably the most significant: the essence of what a film composer wants to communicate and, subsequently, a film score's organization.

First, in relation to his main title cue, Goldsmith explains how vital it is that he be able to find out "what...[a particular] picture [is all] about..." so as to "...summarize [it] musically," expressing further how grateful a film composer is for the opportunity to craft a main title because it provides the perfect occasion for a musical summary.(2) More or less praising Paul Verhoeven's wish for the main title to convey the story of Hollow Man to its audience more effectively, Goldsmith -- in typically self-effacing manner -- discusses how he, as a composer, wanted to say through music that the production was more than just a straightforward horror film. The composer recalls that, "[Verhoeven] wanted to create some kind of sympathy for Sebastian [Kevin Bacon's character]. [The film] was...like a tragedy. [Sebastian] was a great mind gone awry.... That's why [there is] this sort of wistful theme at the beginning...".(3) Thus, Goldsmith's objective was not simply to write a compelling piece of music, but first and foremost to communicate the essence of the film's story to his audience.

In order to do this as effectively as possible, a film composer has to remain consistent in his use of musical means; he has to organize those means in a reasonable manner. Almost twenty-five years ago, author Roy M. Prendergast recorded Goldsmith as having said that he sees any given score he writes "as a total piece and not just a series of sequences."(4) "Everything is developed from one piece of material," Goldsmith claimed, also indicating that the "most important thing" for him in relation to his practice was that "everything develops out of the initial organic material."(5) Lastly, the composer questioned, "If the music has no form, no foundation -- no basis from where it came -- then why is it there in the first place?"(6)

Knowing that Goldsmith had said this, I had wondered if he might mention a film score's structure in similar vein during his Hollow Man commentary. I was content to have the composer's comments on the subject from a quarter century ago but believed that hearing him actually talk about film score organization -- and do so now -- would be much more meaningful and useful, even if he might not speak as eloquently in reference to it as he had before. Additionally, from an instructional perspective, I believed that Goldsmith's discussion about the topic in the context of a videodisc commentary track would be particularly interesting for current film music students fascinated by the wonders of DVD technology.

Thankfully enough, immediately following the conclusion of the first musical cue, Goldsmith states, "[During the rat sequence that follows the main title's end,] there is a variation of the theme itself. [There] is not a lot of isolated music [in film scores], but [all of the music is] related." "[Everything is] part of the same architecture," Goldsmith reasserts. "[Musically speaking,] things come out of [that architecture]."(7)

The composer's remarks hardly could have been any more engaging; not only had he just addressed the things most important to me -- he also had demonstrated that they are crucial to him by beginning the commentary with discussion about them. Even before the point in the film when the audience is introduced to Elizabeth Shue's character, Linda, Goldsmith had said all I dreamed he would over the course of the entire commentary. He had sufficiently delineated how important it is that a film composer do the following:

1) Relate to an audience the essence of a film's narrative
2) Develop an entire score from a basis upon that which musically summarizes the film's message

In other words, Goldsmith had indicated the importance of 1) communication through film music and 2) reasonable consistency in musical communication.

Communication Through Film Music

As Goldsmith suggests in his Hollow Man commentary, a composer must interpret a film and translate it into musical terms for an audience. In his book The Art of Film Music, author George Burt dwells upon remarks from a speech film composer Alex North delivered at the Academy Awards in 1986. (North had just received a lifetime achievement award for, well, his lifetime of achievement as a composer in the film industry.) Burt writes, "In his acceptance speech, North said that he attempts to meet the 'demands and needs of the story conflict and of the interrelationship of the characters involved and, hopefully, to add a personal comment.'"(8) The author paraphrases what North said by entitling the first chapter in the book, "The Story's the Thing."(9)

Burt is correct. Indeed, story is paramount to one involved in the process of scoring a picture (just as it is for other members of a production), and a film composer must relate the essence of a production's narrative to his listener. In his liner notes for a re-recording of Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho, Christopher Palmer recounts, "[When] Herrmann was once [asked] what thought was uppermost in his mind when [composing the cue to underscore the shower murder in the film,]" he only needed a single word for his reply. According to Palmer, the word the late composer chose was "terror."(10)

Many contemporary film composers -- inspired by a Mel Brooks' character in the 1987 space-opera spoof Spaceballs -- might answer a question similar to the one asked of Herrmann by exclaiming, "Merchandising!"(11) For the Psycho composer, though, the needs of the film and its audience were more significant than anything else. (Moreover, taking into account the details of the breakdown of Herrmann's relationship with Alfred Hitchcock during the making of Torn Curtain, it is in fact likely that the music's commercial appeal was the least of the composer's concerns in scoring the 1960 film.) Although Herrmann's conceptualization of what constitutes unity in film music might leave more to be desired, there is no question that, in scoring the infamous shower murder, he makes the scene more vivid for the film's audience.

Specifically, what that murder music really does well is illustrate Herrmann's skill as a communicator. The cue, as Palmer indicates in his notes, is structured on the film's "Hitchcock chord," and the virtuoso string playing illuminates the slashing motions of the killer's knife while at the same time recalling Anthony Perkins' character's fascination with birds.(12) Thus, Herrmann's musical statement, from the standpoint of its communicative value, is elegantly and insightfully horrific.

Similarly, in composing the score for the 1986 film Hoosiers, a picture about a basketball team in a small town Indiana high school struggling to overcome the odds against it, Jerry Goldsmith twice uses dissonance (albeit thematically derived) and a lazy, synthesized drumbeat to illustrate that the players are encountering crisis on the court. The effect does not make for a particularly appealing moment on album, but his communicative expression is extremely potent within the picture. Goldsmith could have crafted a beautiful song sung by Celine Dion for the scene instead, but that would not have been nearly as helpful to him.

Unfortunately, though, that which would make sense communicatively for a picture's music is being neglected more and more in the film industry. An even greater disappointment is the fact that this usually happens so as to incorporate popular or trendy gimmicks just for the sake of doing so. Even David Raksin, the composer of Laura (the theme from which became a popular song with Johnny Mercer lyrics), wrote in 1974, "In too many cases, the appropriateness of the music to the film is secondary to getting an album, or a single...".(13)

As Raksin suggests, writing dramatically appropriate music should be a film composer's primary objective. In addition, a production's need to utilize a composer for the purpose of relating a film's essence to its audience should never be sacrificed for the sake of anything else. Anyone who would purposefully hijack a production so as to garnish a fraudulent profit, should reconsider his decision to be involved in the filmmaking industry. The picture and its message or messages are "the thing," as George Burt stresses; consequently, a film composer must unwaveringly reflect upon what needs to be expressed to an audience.

While popular music and musical trends are indeed accessible to filmgoers, they tend to be so to a fault. Often times, the utilization of pre-existing popular songs in a picture serves as a distraction from the story conflict. To begin with, this is because listeners have pre-conceived notions of what such music represents and what it means to them as a result of their over-familiarity with it. (Several significant film composers and film music aficionados, for example, have noted their preference for Alex North's rejected original score for 2001 over Director Stanley Kubrick's classical borrowings. These individuals have praised North's work for reflecting upon the messages Kubrick wanted to convey while also providing an indigenous quality to the film's soundscape. They have complained that the 19th century classical music selections in 2001 recall the context for which they were composed and not Kubrick's vision of the future.(14) In addition, a song score/compilation usually does not help filmmakers trying to make the most out of their manipulation of a soundtrack because it negatively affects a picture's musical architecture. Random pop selections are disruptive to both the consistency of and development upon musical communication in a film -- two elements helping to establish the basis for this essay and which are the subjects of discussion in the following section.

1. Prendergast, Roy M. Film Music -- A Neglected Art. W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1977. 159.
2 Goldsmith, Jerry. Commentary on the isolated music score audio track included in the special edition DVD presentation of Hollow Man. Columbia Pictures, 2001.
3 Ibid.
4 Prendergast 158.
5 Ibid.
6 Prendergast 159.
7 Jerry Goldsmith's Hollow Man commentary.
8 Burt, George. The Art of Film Music. Northeastern University Press: Boston, 1994. 3.
9 Ibid.
10 Palmer, Christopher. Liner notes to Bernard Herrmann's re-recording of his score for Psycho. Decca Records, 1975.
11 Spaceballs. Directed by Mel Brooks. Performances by Mel Brooks, John Candy, and Rick Moranis. MGM. 1987.
12 Christopher Palmer's liner notes for Psycho.
13 Raksin, David. "Raksin Raps State of Art." Variety, Vol. 275, no. 1, May 15, 1974. 59.
14 Darby, William and Jack DuBois. American Film Music -- Major Composers, Techniques, Trends, 1915-1990. McFarland and Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina, 1990. 420 and 499.
15. Karlin, Fred. Listening to Movies. Schirmer Books: New York, 1994. 275.
 

To be Continued in the next Wednesday Column...
 
 
 

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